19 Aug 2019
A view of a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar,
Bangladesh. Another repatriation effort is expected to take place on
Thursday. Photo - EPA
Myanmar will accept more than 3000 Rakhine State refugees from Bangladesh starting on Thursday, said U Ko Ko Naing, director general of the Disaster Management Department.
“There are more than 20,000 refugees on the list sent by Bangladesh. Of them, we have verified that more than 3000 have documents proving that they lived in Myanmar. We sent the list to Bangladesh but they have not replied,” he said.
Of the 22,432 names of refugees that Bangladesh submitted to the Myanmar government, 3454 have been verified by Myanmar and will be accepted first, President Office’s director general U Zaw Htay told a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.
“We verified that more than 3000 people can show documents that they lived in Myanmar and weren’t involved in terrorist attacks,” he said.
Repatriation camps are open at Ngagu Ya and Taung Pyo Letwei, and a temporary camp will be provided at Hla Phoe Khaung village before the returnees are sent back to their villages.
The two repatriation camps will accept 300 people a day – 150 at each camp, he said.
A team visited Cox’s Bazar refugee camp for three days in July to inform refugees about the repatriation process and how the Myanmar government is preparing for their return. It was led by U Myint Thu, permanent secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department, and comprised officials of the ministries of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, and Labour, Immigration and Population.
The United Nations has said that more than 700,000 Muslim refugees fled to Bangladesh after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked security outposts in Rakhine on August 25, 2017, and the military responded with a brutal crackdown. In November 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed that Myanmar would repatriate refugees in January 2018, but the process was delayed due to unsuccessful negotiations between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Only a few Muslim and Hindu refugees have voluntarily returned to Rakhine so far. – Translated
Link :https://www.mmtimes.com/news/myanmar-attempt-repatriation-process-again-august-22.html
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